Earlier this week at the REFF West conference, I attended the “Balancing act between natural gas and renewables” panel. Surprisingly the panel focused very little on the worries that cheap natural gas would derail the renewables market, but instead explored the synergies available between the two.

The City of Houston has signed an agreement with Reliant Energy to purchase 140MW of renewable power for the next two years. The 140MW power purchase represents approximately 50 percent of the city’s required power and is the equivalent of power required for over 55,000 homes each year. Reliant is a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc., which has headquarters in both New Jersey and Houston.

This past Sunday during halftime of the Redskins—Eagles game, I accepted the NRG Sustainable Futures Award, presented by Arun Banskota, President of eVgo, a NRG Energy company and co-chair of ACORE’s Transportation Initiative. It was an honor to receive the NRG Sustainable Futures Award on Military Appreciation Day in front of tens of thousands of Washington Redskins fans. I accepted the award with great humility, fully realizing that it symbolizes not just my work, but the collective hard work of our members and the ACORE staff day in and day out—helping move the industry forward.

February 28 -- NRG Energy Inc, the No. 2 U.S. power generating company, said on Wednesday it will add over 2,000 megawatts (MW) of natural gas and solar power generating capacity in 2013. "In 2013, we expect over 2,000 MW of utility scale conventional and solar generation to come on line," NRG CEO David Crane told analysts on a call after the company released its fourth quarter earnings. >>View Article

February 26 -- Even though the 2013 National Football League season is about six months away, one team is driving the ball down the field in helping to boost the changing image of spectator sports as a champion in environmental sustainability. Sunpower is helping recent Super Bowl Finalists, the San Francisco 49ers, by providing a solar panel system for their new stadium. >>View Article